Now and Then
by chairness
Summary: Serena returns from boarding school only to find that her 3 best friends are no longer friends...or enemies even. CB. ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

Blair sighed, trying to hold back her disappointment. "Thank you Lily. Please tell her that we all miss her very much."

"No luck," Blair said turning to face the two boys.

"There has to be some reason she left." Chuck said, hiding a playful smirk and turning to his

best friend, "Nathaniel, would you have any ideas?"

Nate seemed caught off guard for just a second but maintained his composure again before Blair could see. "No."

"Well she left on the night of the Shepard's wedding," Blair said. "Something _must've _happened that night. Nate, you were with S, did she seem…weird?"

"No…nothing." Nate hoped that his lack of lying skills wouldn't show.

"Actually—" Chuck began, but Nate cut him off.

"So, I have to go, my mom needs me to help set up for the dinner tonight. Chuck, you coming?"

"Yes Nathaniel. One moment though, I have to grab my coat." Nate nodded and made his way to the elevator.

"Wait, Bass." Blair commanded. "I'm not _that _stupid, I know you know something that I don't."

Chuck just smirked. "If you're so smart Waldorf, how come you don't know by now?"

Blair scoffed as Chuck followed after Nate. "I _will _find out!"

...

Blair smiled as she greeted her boyfriend with a kiss. "Good evening Mrs. Archibald, this dinner is very lovely." She smiled at Nate's mother.

Anne blushed. "Thank you. And please, do call me Anne."

"Of course. Will the Captain be joining us tonight?"

Anne looked off to the distance. "No…now if you'll excuse me, I have to check some things with the caterers."

Blair turned to Nate, "What did I say?"

Nate sighed. "It's nothing…it's just Dad probably won't be back in time for  
>The Holidays, and it's getting to her."<p>

Blair took Nate's hand "Work?"

Nate nodded.

Blair smiled, "Well, there's still 5 days until Christmas, there's still hope."

Nate returned her smile and turned around to greet more guests.

"Bass!" Blair yelled as she caught sight of her boyfriend's loyal best friend.

Chuck smiled innocently. "Yes?"

Blair frowned. "I don't forget an untold secret very easily. Now what were you going to tell me?"

"I don't believe I was going to tell you anything, Blair."

"What's it going to take for you to spill?" Blair furrowed her eyebrows together. When it came to Queen B, nothing stopped her from getting what she wanted.

"These lips," Chuck said while pointing to his mouth, "are sealed. Unless of course…"

"Gross!" Blair glared disapprovingly at her pervert of a friend's raised eyebrows.

Chuck smirked before grabbing another glass of champagne and leaving, most likely, to find a girl for the night.

...

Blair sighed as she sat on Nate's lap. The parents were all downstairs discussing business, while all the children were upstairs, in the endless count of rooms that Archibald Manor had.

"What's wrong?" Nate caught Blair's eye.

"I think…Chuck knows something about why Serena left."

"Chuck?" Nate asked. He immediately thought of the Shepard's wedding _incident_. No…Chuck couldn't possibly have known about that.

"Yeah. He knows something about _my _best friend." Blair was obviously hurt that Serena and Chuck shared secrets. "I'm sorry…I have to find that Bass-tard and figure out what he's hiding." Blair hopped off Nate's lap.

Nate—suddenly alarmed that Chuck might know about him and Serena—jumped up too. "I'll come with you."

It didn't take long for the couple to find the room with the slightly ajar door, and smoke pouring out.

"Chuck." Blair entered with Nate following behind. Of course, Chuck was entwined in a beautiful girl, most likely another worker from the Palace.

"Next time you should knock, Waldorf." Chuck scowled as he excused himself from the girl.

"Maybe next time you should lock the door." Blair pursed her lips and squinted her eyes accusingly. "I think now would be a good time to tell me what you know about Serena leaving." Blair didn't know why she cared so much. Part of her wanted it to be some juicy piece of information that put all the pieces together, and part of her wanted it to be something she already knew, meaning that Chuck couldn't possibly know more about her best friend than she did.

Chuck raised his eyebrows and smirked. "Nathaniel, she's your girlfriend, perhaps you should tell her."

"Tell me what. What's going on?" Blair questioned. Chuck was bluffing…he had to be.

"Chuck, I don't know what you're talking about." Nate looked confused. But he knew _exactly _what he was talking about.

"Last month…the Shepard's wedding?" Chuck seemed to be prolonging the moment, waiting for Blair to realize what he was cluing.

And suddenly, a click seemed to ring in the air as Blair figured it out. "No…" she shook her head. "You couldn't have…she's my _best friend._"

"Blair—" Nate reached out to grab her arm, but Blair slapped it out of the way.

"Don't touch me." Her words were cold, and she turned her head quick enough so that they couldn't see her tears. Before anyone could stop her, she stormed out of the room.


	2. Chapter 1

_Hey Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here. And I have the biggest news ever. One of my many sources, Melanie91, sends us this: "Spotted at Grand Central, bags in hand: Serena van der Woodsen." Was it only a year ago our It girl mysteriously disappeared for "boarding school"? And just as suddenly, she's back. Don't believe me? See for yourselves._

_...  
><em>

Blair nearly dropped her phone in surprise. Serena was back? A million questions rushed into her mind at once. Blair didn't know why Serena came back, but she knew the reason that she left. Now when Blair thought about it, it didn't hurt anymore. It was just another memory floating in the back of her head. Nowadays, Blair, Chuck, and Nate no longer talked. It had started with the angry silences, right after Blair found out. Blair was mad at Nate for what he did, and Chuck for not telling her. Nate was mad at Chuck for telling Blair, and Chuck was…well, Chuck. The angry silences slowly turned into awkward silences which turned into normal silences. The three now only talked to each other when it was necessary.

_…_

"Serena?" Nate whispered to himself. Nate was also surprised. When Serena first left, Nate had expected her to come back. He had lost that hope months ago. Nate was heartbroken when Serena left. He had just lost his virginity to her, and she hadn't even said a word. By now, Nate had learned to maintain a life without Serena, Blair or Chuck. Sometimes Nate missed his best friends. But by now, he knew the relationship between them was too hard to repair, because they had all learned to live apart from each other.

_…_

Chuck was the only one who wasn't surprised when he received the blast. As a matter of a fact, he didn't have any emotion or reaction towards it at all. It might have been the fact that he was currently drunk, stoned, and wedged in between two girls, but it was also that Chuck had turned off all of his emotions months ago. He missed Nate, and he even missed Blair. He hated that nostalgic feeling, so gradually he simply stopped feeling. Chuck began to spend his nights with girls, and days conversing with Arthur, his chauffer. It wasn't as if Chuck had many emotions to begin with, but now, he was living the life of a robot.

_…_

Serena paid the cab driver as she got out of the car. She was at the Waldorf penthouse. She had been here so many times before, that the doorman new her. But now, returning, it seemed so different. The doorman looked shocked when he saw the blonde-haired beauty.

"Miss Van Der Woodsen…I haven't seen you in a while."

Serena merely smiled. She had no idea what she would say to anyone about why she was back.

The elevator door opened to a glorious penthouse owned by the Waldorfs. _Perfect timing, _Serena thought sarcastically as she saw her best friend descend the stairwell.

"Dorota, where's my dress! I have to where it to the Kiss on the Lips party!" Blair looked down and a small smiled curved across her face. "Well, well, if it isn't Serena Van Der Woodsen, back from boarding school." Serena could hear the bitterness as Blair finished her sentence.

"Blair! Hi!" Serena tried her best to look enthusiastic.

Blair seemed to snap out of her trance and her smile became huge, "Oh, I missed you!" She cried as she threw her arms around her best friend, while rolling her eyes. Blair wasn't mad at her for the Nate Thing, in fact, she had completely moved past it. She was just angry that her best friend left without a goodbye, and was suddenly back to steal her spotlight.

"So…catch me up! How have Nate and Chuck been doing?" Serena questioned.

"Well…I assume Nate is doing well. I heard he's trying to get into Dartmouth. And Chuck's probably the same as he always is."

"Wait…you assume?" Serena looked confused.

"I guess we kind of lost touch." Blair shrugged casually, hiding her emotions. She truly did miss her best friends.

"Wait, what happened?"

"You and my boyfriend, that's what happened." Blair scowled.

Serena looked down. "Wait, Blair, are you talking about—?"

"The Shepard's wedding? Yeah."

"Blair…I'm…_so_ sorry, I've been trying so hard to forgive myself. That's why I came back. I felt so guilty for leaving, I just couldn't—" Serena looked up, expecting something besides Blair's cold stare.

"Best friends don't sleep with boyfriends, S. And I'm sure you felt _so_ guilty when you left without a word."

"How can I fix this?" Serena pleaded.

Blair shrugged. She was trying to put on a cold front, but she wanted to fix things as badly as Serena did. She wanted to have brunch, with the four of them together again. "I don't know…the Kiss on the Lips is tonight." She reached over to a table and grabbed an invite. "Feel free to come."

Serena smiled. "Thanks, B. I'll see you there."

Blair sighed. When it came to Serena, all the Queen B walls came down. She wasn't mad at Serena, as much as she was just hurt that she left. Blair had a secret hope that maybe if she fixed things with Serena, she'd fix things with Nate and Chuck as well.

…

Nate glanced at his phone. The Gossip Girl blast said that Serena was staying at the Palace, Chuck's father's hotel.

Nate didn't know why he wanted to see Serena so badly. He wanted to ask her why she left so suddenly and why she was back. It was a short trip from the Archibald's to the Palace, and Nate almost told the cab driver to go somewhere else when he saw who was at the front door: Chuck. Nate didn't know why he was so afraid of running into Chuck. It wasn't as if they were angry at each other or anything. Quite frankly, they were past all emotions entirely.

"Hey kid, you getting off?" The driver gave Nate a weird look.

"Y-yeah." Nate mumbled, getting out of the cab.

Chuck didn't notice Nate at first, and Nate ridiculously hoped that he could make his way into the hotel without Chuck noticing. He knew he hoped wrong when he saw Chuck do a double take. At first Chuck pretended to act as if he hadn't seen him, but the moment grew awkward when they caught each other both staring.

Offering a slight wave, Nate smiled. "Hey Chuck."

"Nathaniel." Chuck formally greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhh…I was…" Nate didn't know what to say.

"Serena isn't here." Chuck smirked. "She left about half an hour ago."

"So…you heard she's back?"

Chuck pulled out his phone. "I think everyone's heard." If you wanted to be a "cool teen" in the Upper East Side, you _had _to be updated on Gossip Girl.

"Right. Well—"

"Nate! Chuck!" Serena seemed half-happy and half-surprised to see the two talking in front of the Palace.

"Serena." Nate was caught off guard. Just the presence of Serena Van Der Woodsen seemed to dazzle him.

Chuck said nothing. He had to keep his emotions in check. The fact that his two old best friends were standing next to him couldn't be good for his robotic reputation. All that was left was—

"B!" Serena cried. "I didn't know you were coming here."

"You left your phone at the penthouse." Blair explained. "Gossip Girl said you were here, so I figured I should bring it to you, since I was coming here anyway." Blair smiled as she approached the three.

"Thanks." Serena smiled too as she took her phone.

The four stood awkwardly for a moment.

"Well, I have to go meet with someone." Chuck said.

"Yeah, and I have to go back for dinner." Nate lied.

"Okay." Serena said, trying to ignore the fact that she knew they were both making lame excuses. "Well…see you. Are you going to Kiss on the Lips?"

They both nodded, and with an awkward farewell, the two boys left.

"So B…Bendel's and Saks?" Serena suggested.

Blair nodded eagerly. "Way ahead of you, S."

…

Nate sighed as he threw himself onto his bed. He had it all planned out. He was supposed to tell Serena how much she had hurt him. And he was supposed to spend the rest of the afternoon confessing to her how much he missed his friends. Serena had always been there for that. But somehow, what with Chuck and Blair arriving, he couldn't bring himself to do it. _Tonight_, he thought, _at Kiss on the Lips, I'll tell her. _

…

Chuck sighed as he sat on the couch, scotch in hand. Alcohol had always been there for him when he wanted to erase his feelings. It seemed that Serena's return had brought a whole new set of them.

…

"What's that?" Blair looked at disgust at the blue dress that Dorota had laid out on the couch.

"Kiss on the Lips dress, Miss Blair." Dorota looked confused. Blair had given her specific orders on the dress she had wanted.

"Oh, I don't need that." Blair said casually, pointing to the thousand dollar dress. "I got this lovely dress at Saks today with S." Blair smiled as she took out a short black dress from her array of shopping bags. "It goes perfectly with the necklace Daddy got me for Christmas." Blair marveled. Though her father now lived in Paris with another _man, _he still knew how to shop for his favorite (and only) daughter.

Dorota smiled. "Miss Blair and Miss Serena go shopping today?"

"_Went,_ Dorota, get your tenses straight." Blair reprimanded, although she was in a very happy mood. Things with Serena were on the road to recovery, and soon enough, maybe she would have Nate and Chuck back in her life as well.

…

Blair bobbed her head to the music as she looked around. Her party had been a complete success. She scanned the room for Serena, Nate, or Chuck. Since their run-in at the Palace, Blair had obtained an odd confidence that she would surely get her friends back.

"B!" Serena called from the entrance. She was wearing a shimmery silver dress that only Serena Van Der Woodsen could pull off, and every guy seemed to turn their attention to her for a split second. Blair sighed. She forgot what it was like being best friends with the 'it-girl'.

"S!" She smiled. "Have you seen the others?"

"Nate and Chuck? No." Serena shook her head. "Why don't you text them?"

Blair looked down. "Maybe later." She hadn't sent a single text to either of the two since that night at the Archibald dinner.

"Serena!" The two girls turned to see Nate walking towards them. "Uh…hey Blair." Nate greeted, although his eyes were glued to Serena's dress. Blair rolled her eyes. She no longer loved Nate, but she still deserved better than _that_, right?

"Hi Nate!" Serena grinned. "Is Chuck with you?"

"Um…no. I have no idea where he is." Nate looked down as well. His text message inbox also lacked messages from Blair and Chuck.

"Oh, there he is. Chuck!" Serena called. She seemed oblivious to the fact that the three never talked anymore. Today was the most that they've talked in 5 months.

Chuck turned and began to approach them up. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" He smirked.

"Meet me on the rooftop in exactly 10 minutes." Serena smiled, and her eyes were excited.

"You want to meet on the rooftop?" Chuck raised an eyebrow. His friends hadn't been away from him long enough to forget what that arched eyebrow meant.

"Chuck, ew! I mean, all of us. I have something to show you guys." And Serena ran off, leaving the three of them back to where they were a week ago. It seemed like when Serena was there, they were all best friends again. And when she wasn't there, they were strangers.

…

Blair opened the door to the rooftop. She was 3 minutes early, but Waldorfs were never late. She saw a silhouette of Chuck standing by the edge.

"You're early." Blair stated.

Chuck turned around, obviously surprised. "You are too, Waldorf." For the two, first name basis meant last name basis.

Blair smiled, though he couldn't have seen it in the darkness. It felt good to hear Chuck call her that again. "So what have you been up to Bass?"

"What have I been up to today or in the past few months?" Chuck said it casually, but Blair could pick up his bluff.

"Um…" Blair didn't know how to answer. It seemed stupid to catch up after months of silence. The door opened before Blair could reply.

Serena walked in with Nate following close behind her. Blair laughed under her breathe as she compared Nate to a loyal golden retriever who accompanied its owner everywhere.

"So what did you drag us up to the rooftop for?" Chuck demanded.

Serena smiled and pulled out a small booklet. "Remember this?"

Blair gasped, "It's the scrapbook."

"The one we made in like—"

"Second grade." Chuck cut Nate off.

"When we thought it was okay for guys and girls to have a sleepover." Serena laughed, and the sound seemed to warm the cold rooftop air.

"Our parents figured we were too young to do anything bad, so they let us sleepover." Blair smiled. "I remember Dorota had to help us put it together because Nate kept eating the glue."

This time they all laughed.

Slowly, the four flipped through the worn pages of photos and doodles.

Blair laughed and touched the page where she had put on Eleanor's lipstick and kissed the page. Chuck had then stolen the lipstick and ran around the room with it while Blair chased him. Finally, Chuck said that he simply wanted to leave a mark on the page too and put the lipstick on and kissed the page as well. Dorota had made a fuss while she tried to remove the lipstick from the restless children's' lips.

"Look, I've missed you guys." Nate admitted. "I just…I didn't know what to say after we stopped talking, you know?"

Blair nodded. "I was…mad at first, but eventually, I just wanted us to be _friends _again."

They both turned to Chuck as if expecting him to contribute to the heartfelt confessions.

"Well…I didn't care, if that's what you want me to say." Chuck spoke flatly. "If anything, my life's gotten better without friendships to uphold."

"Chuck." Blair started.

But he was already making his way towards the stairwell back down to the party. This was too much for him. If he let all that he was feeling out, it would ruin everything that he'd been trying not to do for the past 5 months. He had already adapted to being non-emotional Chuck, and saying just a teensy bit of what he was feeling would change that completely.

"Chuck!" He heard his name. But it wasn't Serena, the problem-fixer, or Nate, his best friend (well, _ex-_best friend). It was Blair. Chuck almost turned around, but instead he kept running.

"Chuck, stop!" And he stopped. He didn't know why, but he did.

"Chuck, why are you doing this?" Blair accused.

Chuck spun on his heels and turned to face Blair. Their noses were barely touching. "Because…I don't care about any of this."

"Don't care about what?"

"About the fact that I've barely spoken to any of you in 5 months. And I don't care about the fact that Serena is back. And I _definitely _don't care that you care enough to follow me. So if you'll excuse me." Chuck began to continue down the stairwell but Blair grabbed his arm and his resolve shattered.

"You do care, Chuck." She said it like it was a known fact.

"How do you know?"

"I can see it. I'm not blind, Bass."

"Prove it, Waldorf."

The two exchanged a hateful glare, and suddenly her lips were on his. His hands were knotted in her hair as their bodies pressed together. The party and the rooftop were long forgotten as Blair pulled off Chuck's scarf in one swift motion. Blair couldn't help but smile, because she had proved him right. Chuck Bass did indeed care.


End file.
